


DanganRonpa - Cultural Festival!!

by unavoidablekoishi



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Everybody's in different classes but the same year, Multi, cultural festival AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-11-01 13:15:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10922550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unavoidablekoishi/pseuds/unavoidablekoishi
Summary: When Usami announces the prospect of a cultural festival, everybody scrambles to do what they do best to put it together.Naegi finds his own talent is impractical for tasks like this and, with nothing to do on the day of the festival, decides to check out what the students of his year have done.





	1. Begin the Cultural Festival!!

Naegi wasn’t all too sure if he’d seen most of these guys in one place together. Three classes, all in his year, all crammed in one particularly small hall. Most of them chatted with one another, pretty harmless. A few seemed to be waging war with one another through things like arm-wrestling competitions and things like that. Others just stood around, avoiding the large crowd and honestly, Naegi felt like doing the same.

“Why are we here again?”

His question caught Kirigiri’s attention as she, too, opted to stand away from the group.

“Usami called us all here for some reason. I feel like it may be some kind of group activity.” She responded, her quiet voice barely audible over the din of the more boisterous students of their year.

“An activity...? Like what?”

“Ahem!!”

A loud, clear voice echoed through the hall and, now standing upon the podium with as much grace as a stuffed rabbit could muster. A few students expressions contorted into a grimace- her appearance wasn’t always welcomed. Naegi wasn’t too partial to her at the worst of times, but she was nice enough.

“Thank you all for gathering here! I hope you’re all developing your friendships with one another~!”

A meagre groan rose from the crowd.

“W-Well...I called you all here to announce the date of this years Cultural Festival! It will be two weeks from now- meaning you have two weeks to prepare!”

“A cultural festival...?”

The group more or less had the same reaction. Some looked overly excited by the prospect of a festival; others looked indifferent. Naegi wasn’t all too sure what help he’d be during the preparations but he couldn’t deny it sounded exciting.

“I’ve listed all possible stalls and shops you can run- it’s up to you to plan it amongst yourselves! Have fun!!”

And with that, she disappeared, leaving the three classes to murmur amongst themselves. Even though plenty students here didn’t talk to each other all that much, everybody knew what would happen next...

“We must prepare this festival without any conflict! I’ll be handing out paper for everybody to write down what they’d like to do! Discussion will continue from there!”

Ishimaru’s voice was loud and clear over the din and though many students sighed, they knew better than to reckon with the unstoppable moral force that was Ishimaru Kiyotaka.

And so, pieces of paper went around and everybody scribbled down what they wanted to do along with various other ideas, though when the paper was passed to Naegi, his mind was blank.

In the end he wrote down ‘helping with anything’.

“I wrote something similar.” Kirigiri commented, eyeing the paper from over Naegi’s shoulder. Naegi flushed slightly, but smiled. Their talents weren’t exactly practical in these cases...

Half an hour later, all the papers were passed back to Ishimaru and he began to talk about what food stalls would be available. Naegi ended up tuning out for the most part, not hearing any mention of his name, though he did overhear Kirigiri volunteering as a waitress.

Other students volunteered to use their talents for their own stands, such as Celestia running a small casino and Hagakure running a fortune-telling stand (which Naegi could foretell would do poorly).

Some students with more creative and informative abilities volunteered to prepare their own exhibitions, such as Shirogane, Iruma and oddly enough...Kiibo, who volunteered his own body as the exhibition...? Naegi knew very little about the robot, but getting a chance to see how he works close up seemed like an interesting idea.

Throughout the whole meeting, Naegi’s name was never mentioned, but he was sure somebody would find use for him during the festival preparation. He’d just wait until then...

* * *

 

Two weeks later, and the festival was now beginning to start. Other students began to file in and wander around, inspecting all the shops and stalls.

Naegi was correct in assuming somebody would find use for him. He spent a lot of time helping the restaurant stalls put together tables and chairs, and other attractions, helping them set up their rig as well. It wasn’t an incredibly involving task, but it was help nonetheless.

But now, all the stalls were attracting business and without much help being needed, Naegi was left with nothing do to but check out the stalls for himself...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah so apparently there's a bonus mode at the end of ndrv3 that shows a cultural festival event, so after getting a few sources from tumblr, i found out what each student does. sorry if it's inaccurate?


	2. Ghost House

He started on one side and planned to make his way to the other, investigating each stall as he went along. The floor was a stretch of each stall, with the main stage set up at the very end. Well...time to get going, he supposed.

 

Ghost House.

 

He sighed. He’d never been all too good with horror. That wasn’t to say he was a wuss, he could handle it but it wasn’t really pleasant. He entered anyway, curious to see how his classmates had done it.

 

He wasn’t in the least bit surprised to find Shinguji Korekiyo running the reception desk. He had honestly never spoken to the boy in his life, but somehow he had a pretty good gauge of his personality. He can’t say the mask helped too much.

 

He could see the mask’s zipper upturn in sync with his lips, which sent an uneasy feeling to his stomach. Naegi smiled in response anyway.

 

“So...this is the Ghost House, huh?”

 

“Indeed it is. I didn’t pin you for the type to be interested in these things.” He said, coolly. Naegi shrugged. “I’m really not, but I hear you guys have worked really hard on this thing so I wanna see how it came out!”

 

“Well I must admit we’re all very pleased with it. It’s given me a chance to showcase some of my own...artefacts.” He explained, “So while you enjoy the attraction, it’d be nice for you to remember some of these items are real.”

 

Naegi’s smiled became far more forced than he’d intended. Real artefacts? What- were they haunted? Was he going to see a corpse here? Then again, he’d seen some of the more unruly of his classmates volunteer to help out here.

 

“D-Don’t worry, Naegi! It’s completely safe!”

 

The high-pitched, almost tinny, voice of the Ultimate Nurse entered the room.

 

Of all people, Naegi would’ve have imagined Tsumiki actually volunteering for an attraction like this. She always seemed so...faint-hearted, but then again, for a nurse, faint-heartedness wasn’t an option.

 

“I-It might be a little scary, b-but it’s okay! A-And if you faint, I’ll make sure you’ll be okay!” She offered, weakly, shaking where she stood. If Naegi didn’t know any better, he’d think Tsumiki was scared of this place though her offer relieved him slightly.

 

However the way in which Shinguji chuckled just hiked his fear up higher. He had the sneaking suspicion Shinguji was the receptionist for a reason.

 

Tsumiki joined Shinguji at the reception for a short while, as Yonaga emerged from behind the curtain, leading behind her a group of rather pale-faced students. She, however, looked incredibly cheerful.

 

“Thank you~ Come again soon~”

 

She waved the group off with a sunny smile and Naegi now doubted whether or not going in there would be a good idea. Yonaga’s smile seemed like something of solace in such a scary place but who knows what she could be capable of. Especially with...god on her side, as she claims.

 

“Ahh~! Naegi-chan! Are you here to see the Ghost House!?” She waved, before grabbing both of his hands.

 

“A-Ah, wait, I was ju--“

 

“C’mon! I’ll take you around!” She announced, effectively cutting any protest from Naegi off completely. Naegi eventually allowed himself to be drug through the curtain and into the first room.

 

The first room appeared to be some kind of hallway, fairly short, but heavily decorated with antique looking mirrors, covering almost all the wall-space. Naegi held his breath, somewhat embarrassed that he was still holding Yonaga’s hand, but found it comforting nonetheless.

 

“Y’know lots of people claim to see things in mirrors. That mirrors are a gateway to another world...” Her voice was softer than Naegi had ever heard before and he shuddered because he’d hoped Yonaga’s cheery, chipper voice would get him through this. Oh how wrong he was.

 

Suddenly, the mirror beside him flashed and he flinched, having caught sight of it via peripheral vision- somehow it made it more creepy. He slowly let his eyes drift to each one, but none of them did a thing.

 

“Mirrors do all kinds of things. You ever seen the film Skeleton Key?”

 

“Uh...no?”

 

“Ah, never mind then. Here, here, this is my favourite mirror! Take a look!”

 

She brought him to a stop in front of a heavily decorated mirror. The frame curled around the mirror in shades of dull gold and brown, slightly chipped away revealing the black underneath.

 

The mirror- it was just a mirror. He saw himself, with Yonaga lingering beside him, looking intently.

 

“No, no, Naegi, you’re tensing up! You gotta relax! Let the images come to you! Here, close your eyes for a second...” She rested her hands on his shoulders, rubbing slightly and Naegi let his shoulders relaxed. There was no way closing his eyes was a good idea, but...

 

“There we go...now take another look....”

 

He opened his eyes and--

 

\--the mirror was blank.

 

Well, not black, but reflected an empty space with neither he or Yonaga in sight. What the--

 

“--HELL!?”

 

An odd shriek erupted from his voice as the mirror suddenly flashed, depicting some kind of grotesque ghost-looking woman shooting towards him at an incomprehensible speed. Yonaga giggled.

 

“Did you see it?”

 

Naegi let out a breath, feeling his heart race in such an uncomfortable fashion- how did people get joy out of this? He just wanted to vomit! And Yonaga seemed so carefree about it- if he was tour guide of this place, he’d jump at that every single time!

 

“Y-Yes...” He replied, placing a hand over his heart.

 

“Hahaha~! You look sick! C’mon, let’s go to the next room!”

 

He wondered how many counts of fainting and vomiting they’d had to deal with in the thirty minutes the attraction was open.

 

“Now this room is really cool, and Shinguji really helped us out with this!”

 

He shuddered right off the bat. The room was fairly small in size, but decorated wall to wall with masks of varying shapes and sizes. If that wasn’t bad enough, below the masks were several tables set up with a variety of handmade dolls.

 

Naegi could now see how genuine these masks. Some of them were fancy, well-made and painted with care, like something resembling a masquerade, while some of the more creepier ones were wooden with round, carved out eyeholes and scratches across them. Some of these masks were- was that blood on that one? And that one had stitches across the mouth! Oh, god...

 

And if that wasn’t creepy enough, the dolls definitely were. Again, lots of these dolls looked to be from the Victorian era, all well-made with hollow glass eyes and painted porcelain while some of the older ones were cobbled together with rags and uneven stitches, all sporting scary faces.

 

He’d never thought he’d be scared by a mask, but after that mirror jump-scare, anything would make him scream.

 

“Angie really likes these dolls! This is really her area of expertise y’know! Angie’s made masks for lots of rituals!”

 

Naegi did not want to know what these rituals entailed.

 

His heartbeat was just about settling until one of the dolls blinked at him. He rubbed his eyes- that can’t be real right? The mirror had to be some kind of set-up, he knew Souda and Saionji were in charge of equipment and special effects, so that was completely possible, but the doll...?

 

It blinked again.

 

It wasn’t as...sudden as the jump-scare, but it was a more subtle fear. Either way, Naegi knew it was time to leave this room. He’d compliment Shinguji on the masks later because although they were decently creepy, they were incredible nonetheless.

 

“Next up- huh...?”

 

They passed through another curtain and Yonaga’s sudden surprise caught Naegi off guard. The room was entirely empty, lights shining down onto an empty floor.

 

“W-Wait, where’s the exhibition? This was meant to be a load of coffins...?” Yonaga looked around the room with disbelief, checking behind the next curtain. “Did Souda-chan take them all out? What gives?” She crossed her arms with a pout, “Nobody tells Angie about these things. This is unfair...”

 

Naegi stepped across the room to comfort her, though half-way across he felt something on his head. Something had dropped onto his head. His fingers went up to feel what it was.

 

Liquid...?

 

He retracting his fingers to find them stained red. Was this paint? No, the consistency was too thin to be paint. Ink...maybe...?

 

Yonaga stared at him with wide eyes. “Are you bleeding? I can get Tsumiki-chan!”

 

Naegi shook his head, “No, no...I think it just...” He tilted his head back to peer up at the ceiling and--

 

“G-GYAAAAH!”

 

This was a far more impressive shriek than earlier, but he had no time to reign it in when hanging above him, amongst an array of ropes and chains, was a corpse. Damn it, he didn’t want to see a corpse today!

 

A glance was all Naegi needed to see it was a rag-dressed corpse, with blood stained all over it. It’s skin was peeling off across it’s arms, legs and even it’s face, giving the effect of freshly peeled skin.

 

The corpse suddenly burst into laughter.

 

“Hahaaah! Naegi- that scream was hilarious!”

 

The mirthful laughter of Souda, responsible for the set-up, rang out in the small room. Naegi’s expression dropped from fear to displeasure. Yonaga giggled in the corner- of course this was an act, what did he expect...? Though he was surprised Souda was playing an active part in the attraction...

 

The incredible make-up was obviously courtesy of Yonaga, who jumped up and down with excitement, pleased that her artwork elicited a good reaction.

 

“I have to admit...that scared me.” Naegi smiled, despite still feeling sick to his stomach.

 

“Good! This is meant to be scary!”

 

“Souda-chan looked at himself in one of the mirrors earlier and scared himself by accident~!”

 

“Angie!!”

 

Yonaga led Naegi away, leaving Souda protests behind, as they journeyed onto the next room.

 

“This is the last room! Hold on tight!”

 

Naegi clung to Yonaga’s arm without hesitation, now throwing all dignity out of the window, though after that room, he wasn’t all too sure trusting her was wise.

 

Stepping into the next room, the floor was smeared with ‘blood’ and littered with what looked like fingernail scratches. A violent, vivid image of somebody being forcefully dragged across a floor flashed through Naegi’s mind. He silently cursed his brain.

 

Naegi wasn’t even aware of the eery music playing in the background as Yonaga led him down the last room, which, like the first, was shaped more like a corridor. The closer they got to what Naegi assumed was the exit, the more tense he felt. This was really leading up to something. The music seemed to grow louder with every step and Naegi was sure he could hear scrapes and scratches.

 

“This...isn’t like- this isn’t going to be a Teke-Teke or something, is it...?” He whined, but Yonaga merely laughed in response. That wasn’t a helpful answer!

 

“We’re nearly there...” She said, ominously. Naegi had no hesitation in outwardly admitting this place scared the shit out of him, he’d screamed on two occasions and could feel another one coming soon if the Ghost House followed through with the tension they were building with the music and decorations.

 

They were now approaching the black curtain at the end of the corridor, that did well to block all light from entering the room. This was the exit, wasn’t it? He’d be fine, now, it was all ov--

 

“G-GYAAH!”

 

Again. He knew it was too good to be true and his brain had betrayed him once again.

 

There was no fancy special effects like in the mirror room, or any jaw-dropping costume design like the garb Souda was dressed in. Nothing special, nothing like that.

 

No, no, it was just Shinguji, wearing one of his masks, jumping through the curtain.

 

Shinguji and Yonaga shared a laugh as the anthropologist removed the wooden-carved mask. “Despite not being all impressive- it always gets a scream.” He commented, with pride. Naegi half wanted to glare at him, but he was too weak at the knees, not to mention these guys had managed to cobble together a decently scary ghost house.

 

“I-I gotta admit, this was freaky. How’d you do all this...?”

 

“Exploiting the most common fears found in humans. We were going to have spiders but Gokuhara wouldn’t allow it.”

 

Well, thank god for that.

 

“So, so, didja like it? Naegi-chan?”

 

“I’m not sure ‘like’ is the right word to use, but I’m definitely impressed!” He praised, despite the tremble in his voice, “You guys did really well! Was it just the four of you?” He looked around for any signs of Tsumiki, but assumed she must be taking another group around.

 

“Saionji helped with special effects.”

 

“W-Well, it was...great? I’m, I’m gonna go and splash some water on my face or something...” He gestured awkwardly to the exit, breaking away from Yonaga’s grasp. Shinguji chuckled lowly.

 

“Don’t look into any mirrors, will you?”

 

“A-Ah...I’ll try...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> naegi leaves the ghost house with no dignity and a lifelong fear of mirrors.


	3. Escape Room

“Naegi!”

 

He’d taken one step out of the bathroom, face feeling nice and cool after splashing it with water, and somebody had called his name. He can’t say he wasn’t prepared to help out, but was surprised to see a small group of students outside the next classroom over.

 

Naegi strode over, avoiding eye-contact with the next group of students to emerge from the Ghost House, all wearing identical looks of nausea.

 

“Hey...what are you all doing...? Aren’t you all meant to be working?”

 

“An escape room attraction was set up.” A shy boy Naegi knew as Saihara, murmured, gesturing to the room beside him. “An escape room? That’s pretty clever.” He wasn’t all too sure what else to say- what was the point?

 

“The point is,” Kirigiri began, “that the escape room is deemed ‘unsolvable’ by the other students. They just can’t seem to get around it, so we were asked by Usami to have a go.” She explained. Well, that explained the odd group of students.

 

Naegi and Kirigiri aside, Fukawa was also there, standing pointedly away from the group. From the next class over, was Saihara, whom Naegi already knew, Shirogane, who apparently still had time until her cosplay exhibition and Ouma, who, like him, had nothing to do. And finally, from the last class, was Hinata, whom Naegi had eaten lunch with on several occasions, finding something inherently relatable about the taller boy, Komaeda, who freaked him out on every level and Nanami, who Naegi only knew through Fujisaki.

 

All in all, an odd bunch of characters.

 

“Nishishi! This should be real fun! Right, Saihara-chan?” Ouma turned to his shy classmate, who just turned away, as if he wanted nothing to do with the shorter student. Ouma had no time to form crocodile tears as the group was ushered into the classroom.

 

The first thing Naegi noted, was the sound of the door locking behind him.

 

The second thing Naegi noted, was the box plastered on the wall.

 

“What’s that...?” Shirogane murmured, inspecting the box.

 

“When you press the red button, the game begins...” Hinata began reading the instructions taped onto the box, “...you have five seconds to memorise a sequence of lights- once the sequence ends, you must recreate that sequence using the buttons below. There are ten sequences- you must complete five to progress to the next room. Fail the game three times in a row and you must leave the escape room.”

 

The group processed the information. A few moments later, both Hinata and Komaeda stood back away from the box.

 

“Hahah, take it away, Nanami-san!” Komaeda cheered, as Nanami approached the box. Nanami Chiaki- she was the Ultimate Gamer, wasn’t she? In that case, this puzzle would be too easy for her. Naegi made a point to stand away from the box and slowly, the others followed suit, leaving Nanami looking up at the big box by her lonesome.

 

She took a few moments to get acquainted with the set of lights, twenty in all, in two rows of ten and the same for the buttons beneath. Her hand shifted to click the red button and the game began.

 

The first sequence was easy, Naegi thought, as it only used the top row of lights. Naegi counted them as 1, 6, 3, 7 and 8 with ease. Komaeda gave a small cheer as Nanami completed the sequence with ease.

 

Next sequence, Naegi found a little more difficult and he was surprised the second level suddenly jumped in difficulty, but still remained in the top row of lights. He barely managed to count them as 6,2,8,4 and 9.

 

By the third sequence, Naegi knew full well he wouldn’t be able to keep up. He watched Nanami’s fingers dance over the buttons, clicking out each pattern repetitively without any hesitation. So this was the Ultimate Gamer...? He had to admit, it was a pretty cool talent.

 

By the tenth sequence, every light on the board had flashed up at least twice and Naegi was sure nobody but Nanami was really paying attention to them. The moment she hit the last button, the box lit up with a series of green lights, followed by what Naegi could only describe as a positive sound effect.

 

Nanami turned around, calm as ever, before offering a thumbs up.

 

“I did it.”

 

Komaeda clapped, followed by Hinata. “That was awesome, Nanami-san! You got all of them right!!”

 

Ouma nudged Saihara with a dark look. “Hey, Saihara-chan, why can’t you do that?” Saihara flushed, pulling his cap down further over his eyes. “I-I can’t help that!” He protested, weakly.

 

“The door has opened.” Kirigiri announced, gesturing to where the door beside the box had shifted open slightly. She pushed it open the rest of the way and strode into the next room, followed by the others.

 

The next room was a set of large floor tiles, five by five, taking up most of the space in the small room. Naegi could spot the door on the other side of the tiles and wonder just what would happen if they messed up.

 

“Instructions...?” Fukawa looked around for any sign of instruction, before finding a piece of paper taped to the back of the door.

 

“Um...Read the riddle and s-solve it- spell the answer using the floor tiles. Stepping on a wrong tile will result in the room restarting. F-Fail three times and you must leave the escape room.” She read, her voice trailing into a whimper. “Three times...?” Naegi half wanted to reassure her of her abilities as a literary girl, but knew it would get thrown right back in his face.

 

“A riddle? Like that one over there?” Ouma pointed up at a board nailed on the top of the wall on the other side of the room. “I can’t read it from here....”

 

“It says...” Kirigiri squinted up at the board, “...A small word, holding a meaning that can change an entire world. It can break time and time again, it can fail and it can succeed. It can fight for others and spark others to fight. It takes countless forms and is unique to all.”

 

“Well...it’s a small word? That’s a start?” Naegi offered, feeling rather redundant.

 

“I can think of over a million small words that fit that description...” Fukawa muttered, quietly, but spends time inspecting the letters available to her.

 

“It’s definitely not something physical. I don’t think it exists as a real thing.” Saihara murmured, replaying the riddle in his head. Kirigiri muttered an agreement.

 

“Lots of things have meanings that can change a world. Like love, or...something...” Hinata trailed, pulling a face at his own inadequate answer.

 

“There’s no ‘V’...” Fukawa replied quietly. Naegi can almost hear the gears turning in her head. His, however, are motionless and therefore, useless. He sighed - why was he here again?

 

“Well...I don’t want to give you the answer- in fact, I can’t even trust myself to have the right answer...” Komaeda began, “But I can try and get you the first letter!”

 

“Are you saying you know that answer...?” Shirogane questioned. Komaeda shrugged, but smiled. “I can’t say for sure. I suppose I’ll have to take a wild stab in the dark!”

 

And with that, he took one step onto the floor tiles. Everybody’s breath hitched at the same time, he could hear it, but to their relief, the floor tile lit up a faint green colour.

 

Nanami gently whacked Komaeda’s arm with a rather cute pout. “Stop doing that!” She scolded and it’s clear Komaeda is rather...reckless. What was his talent again...?

 

“So the word...it begins with a ‘H’?” Saihara murmured. Ouma stretched up before striking a pose Naegi can only describe as cocky.

 

“Nishishi! I’ve already got it figured out! Man, you guys are slow on the uptake!” He teased, though none of the other students here are impulsive or emotional enough to act on his jibe.

 

“He’s lying...” Are Saihara’s only words. Shirogane chuckled softly, nodding an agreement. Not having the time to do so before, Ouma spouts crocodile tears in record time.

 

“Saihara-chaaan! You’re so meaaaan!”

 

“Keep crying like that and we’ll leave you in here.” Kirigiri’s flat words are like a stab to the chest for Ouma, as he recoiled dramatically, receding to the corner of the room to sob quietly.

 

“Small word, begins with H...means...a lot...” Naegi reiterated in his head.

 

“I don’t think the word means a lot to people, I think...the word may be more of an outcome...” Kirigiri deduced, eyeing the floor tiles.

 

“An...outcome? As in...something would make a person...feel...” Naegi suddenly began to feel something fit together in his head. If it were a feeling...

 

“Hope...”

 

He’d said the word without really thinking about it. The others side-eyed him with some amount of interest, eager to hearing the reasoning behind his words.

 

“Hope...isn’t something that means something to a person, but it’s a feeling it can give somebody...? I mean....that might not be right, but...it takes many forms, right? Hope can make people fight for what they believe in? Ah, maybe I’m rambling...” Naegi uttered, feeling rather defeated in his explanation.

 

“W-Well...the letters are all there...” Fukawa admitted.

 

“That’s exactly what I thought!” Komaeda chirped, happy to see somebody else had come to same conclusion as him. Naegi flushed slightly- that was reassuring.

 

“Do...we wanna try it?” Hinata asked nobody in particular. Everybody seemed to...agree?

 

Komaeda took another step from where he was, onto an ‘O’ tile and, to everybody’s silent delight, it lit up just like the ‘H’ tile. So they were getting somewhere! Everybody watched with anticipation as Komaeda’s foot hovered above the ‘P’ tile.

 

It lit up.

 

There was nothing else it could be. Without hesitation, Komaeda hopped on over onto the ‘E’ tile, which lit up upon impact. From there, he stepped on over to the other side. The floor tiles lit up erratically, before fading to black. The door across the tiles shifted with a loud thud.

 

“Nice one, Naegi!” Hinata clapped him on the back with a grin. Everybody offered their own congratulations on Naegi’s solution, leaving him rather red-faced.

 

“Good job, Naegi...” Kirigiri smiled, as they all filed into the next room.

 

The next room was a bit odd, there was nothing in the room except a series of odd podiums, all side by side in ascending order. Saihara spotted the instructions beside the door and quickly read them out.

 

“You must all arrange yourselves in each podium to lower the podium to the ground. No podium should be above or below floor level. You have ten minutes.”

 

What? What the hell? How did they manage to make something like this inside a classroom? Then again, this was Hope’s Peak...this was considered normal here.

 

Ouma strode out almost immediately and experimentally stepped on a podium. The podium shrank downwards and sunk just a little below floor level. “Huh...? So I guess this isn’t right? What- do we test each one and see where we belong...?”

 

“There are nine of them- it would be far too tedious. The point is that we’re supposed to solve it, not just guess.” Kirigiri told him, inspecting the podiums. “For this to work, these podiums must react to each one of us specially. How would they gauge something specific...?”

 

“It could be do to with weight?” Hinata suggested. “Like the podiums all weigh differently and will only sink to the right height if the right weight is applied.”

 

“That sounds plausible...” Shirogane agreed.

 

“Does everybody know how much they weigh?” Naegi asked, glancing at each student. Fukawa recoiled, clearly not about to reveal her weight to the others. Nanami also shrugged.

 

“Uh...here, Komaeda, come here a sec...” Hinata beckoned Komaeda over, only to attempt to pick the tall boy up. Komaeda allowed himself to be picked up with nothing but a gentle smile. Hinata grunted as he set the boy back down.

 

“Uh...Nanami probably weighs less that Komaeda...Naegi?”

 

Naegi flinched at the mention of his name, but reluctantly let Hinata pick him up. He tensed up, feeling Hinata’s arms straining to hold him up, and stumbled over when Hinata almost dropped him.

 

“You weigh lighter than Komaeda. Am I going to have to pick up everybody here to solve this?” Hinata sighed, red-faced and breathless.

 

“I think the solution isn’t as tedious as this. I mean, it would be relying on us knowing our weights beforehand or being able to deduce them and for ten minutes- it just seems really unlikely.” Saihara commented, glancing at Kirigiri for some kind of affirmation. When Kirigiri nodded, Hinata slumped over with another sigh.

 

“Thank god for that, I can’t do that for all of you.”

 

Suddenly, a loud noise echoed through the room and the students eyes turned to the podiums, to see Komaeda, standing on the very leftmost podium, looking incredibly pleased with himself. Especially since the podium he was stood on had descended to exactly floor level.

“I guess I got lucky! So I belong here, right?”

 

“It’s height.”

 

“Huh...?”

 

Kirigiri’s voice was flat as she announced it, almost annoyed as if she wished she’d figured it out earlier. “The podiums ascend from left to right, and Komaeda is clearly the tallest of all of us, so if his place is on the lowest podium, I think it’s safe to assume it’s height.”

 

“That...makes sense.” Nanami agreed with a soft smile. “In that case, who comes next...?” She looked around, knowing full well she was one of the shortest of the group. Naegi backed away a little, despite never wanting to admit his shortness.

 

Next was obviously Hinata, who towered over Naegi completely.

 

“I think it might be me or Shirogane next...do you want to go back to back?” Saihara offered, removing his cap and standing dead straight, allowing Shirogane to sidle up behind him.

 

“I think Shirogane’s taller by a couple of centimetres....” Hinata murmured. Saihara pulled his hat back on and flushed, as Ouma screeched a laugh, “Nishishi~! You’re pretty short, aren’tcha?”

 

“Ouma, you’re shorter than I am...”

 

“S-Shut up!”

 

Shirogane took her place on the podium next to Hinata, and looked rather pleased when the podium once again sunk to floor level. Saihara stepped onto the next podium, and the exact same thing happened. It was safe to say the puzzle revolved around height, though Naegi was still stunned about how something like this had been constructed in a classroom.

 

Following Saihara, was Kirigiri and then Fukawa, much to Naegi’s despair. After Fukawa, was Naegi. He stepped onto the podium and felt it sink beneath his feet, wobbling as it did so. Following Naegi, was Nanami and then finally Ouma, whose eyes still brimmed with tears.

 

Once all the podiums sank, they suddenly rose back up again to the exact same position they had been before, though the one thing everybody could note, was the fact everybody was now at eye level with one another.

 

“This is...weird...” Nanami commented, eyeing Hinata from the other side of the room.

 

“D-Does this mean we solved the puzzle...?” Fukawa mumbled, watching the door intently. To everybody’s delight, the door shifted open, revealing an entrance to the next room.

 

“How many rooms are there...?” Shirogane asked, now feeling somewhat bored by the escape room. She had cosplays to finish for her exhibition later today.

 

“I think this is the final room.”

 

Naegi swallowed thickly, feeling a sense of dread pool in his stomach.

 

There, in front of him, lying on the floor, was a gun.

 

The room went silent. Nobody dared look at one another- they all kept their gazes pointedly fixed on the gun, until--

 

“Hey, a gun! I wonder if it’s real!”

 

Ouma took the gun from the floor and began attempting to spin it around his finger like in a western movie. Three people ducked to the floor and a few stood back.

 

“Put that down, Ouma...” Saihara warned.

 

“Nishishi...let’s see what the instructions say...” He checked the side of the gun with a grin. “My, my, this is getting interesting...”

 

“W-What...does it say?” Fukawa trembled, pressing herself as far into the corner of the room as she could muster.

 

Ouma’s grin didn’t falter for a second.

 

“Shoot somebody.”

 

Naegi’s breath hitched. What...? Shoot somebody? That can’t be right- this was a cultural festival not a killing game! Maybe the gun was fake...

 

He watched as Ouma flipped part of the gun open. “Wow, these are real bullets! Where did they get these?” He flipped it back together before pointing the gun straight at Komaeda.

 

“I hear you’re pretty unlucky!”

 

“Ouma, don’t!” Saihara yelped, holding his hands up in defense, but it was clear Ouma wasn’t listening. Who invited him again...? Looking over, Kirigiri seemed calm about the situation. In fact, so did Shirogane and--

 

A noise from the corner of the room indicated Fukawa had finally succumbed to stress and had promptly collapsed to the floor. It wouldn’t be long until Genocider Syo came to join the party and Naegi certainly wasn’t looking forward to that.

 

Curiously, the only other person genuinely calm about the situation, was Komaeda himself.

 

“I guess I am pretty unlucky for you to pick me, huh?” He said, brightly, despite the darkness of the situation. Naegi had heard rumours that Komaeda was a bit...a bit of a nutcase- not his words, but that’s what he’d heard.

 

He was beginning to believe those rumours.

 

“D’ya know how many bullets are in this gun?” Ouma asked, teasingly. Komaeda shrugged. “Nope! How many!”

 

“Three.”

 

“C-C’mon it can’t be a real gun...” Hinata smiled, nervously, but the fact he was doing nothing to get between them proved he doubted his own statement.

 

“Really? You think so?” Ouma grinned, before raising the gun to the ceiling and--

 

_*BLAM*_

 

Everybody suddenly ducked down to the floor, aside from Ouma and Komaeda. Ouma’s grin still didn’t falter, even though he was now down to two bullets. Naegi stared in horror at the small hole in the ceiling, showing that the bullet and the gun was, indeed, real.

 

The gun went back to Komaeda.

 

“Hey, hey, hey! What did I miss~!”

 

“Hey, Syo...” Naegi groaned, as the body of Fukawa hopped up with newfound energy.

 

“Oh? What’s this? We’re havin’ a shootout? Awesome!!” She clapped her hands together in glee. “I mean, it ain’t scissors but it’s something!”

 

“Hey~ You’re that Genocider Syo I’ve heard so much about! Nice to finally meet you!” Ouma waved. “I was just about to shoot this guy.”

 

“W-Wait, what?! You can’t do that!” Saihara yelled, with Shirogane nodded sagely in the background. Ouma raised an eyebrow. “Uh, yes I can, I’m the one with the gun.”

 

“He’s got a point ya know!” Syo offered, rather unhelpfully.

 

Komaeda merely smiled. “Go ahead! Out of all of us here, I’d rather you’d shoot me.”

 

“Komaeda!” Hinata hissed- Komaeda was clearly not helping his own case here. Ouma’s grin seemed to widen, far beyond Naegi thought his could. His eyes looked oddly...dark.

 

Of course- this guy was the Ultimate Supreme Leader. It would go without saying that this guy would be capable of some odd things, including shooting his own classmates.

 

“Do you want a countdown or do you want me to do it suddenly?” He asked. Komaeda seemed to mull it over for a moment.

 

“I think you should just do it. It’s like tearing off a bandaid or having a shot. If you count it down it only hurts m--!!”

 

*CLICK*

 

He blinked, mid-sentence, before chuckling. “See?”

 

Naegi let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding for almost a minute now. A few of the others sighed in relief- Syo seemed to sigh in disappointment.

 

Suddenly, the door to the left of them clicked open.

 

“See, that wasn’t so hard was it? Nice to see you’d take a bullet for your classmates! I think you’d make a pretty good underling, y’know.” Ouma carelessly chucked the gun to the ground as he ‘complimented’ Komaeda. Komaeda laughed alongside him, despite almost being shot by him.

 

Everybody watched in stunned silence as the two left the escape room with smiles on their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who knew they'd make good friends?


	4. Food Battle at the Restaurant!

After both attractions being rather draining, Naegi was in dire need of relaxation and a drink as well. Luckily, the next stretch of corridor contained food and drink stalls, much to Naegi’s relief. So as the others went back to their respective jobs, Naegi headed to the first classroom.

 

The mini-restaurant set up in the next classroom seemed to gain a lot of attention, especially from Hanamura’s cooking. The moment Naegi stepped foot in the classroom, his nostrils were assaulted with delicious smells. He could totally go for something to eat right now.

 

Standing by the door, dressed in a slightly rumpled and untidy waiters uniform, was Amami, who was checking his phone. Naegi’s arrival caused him to perk up as he pocketed his phone and offered a smile.

 

“How’s it going?”

 

“I could ask you the same thing. You’re getting a lot of customers.”

 

Amami shrugged. “I’d say that’s Hanamura’s work at magic. Perfect too, he keeps busy doing his favourite thing in the kitchen and it keeps him away from the female customers. It’s for the best, really...” He grinned and Naegi chuckled uncertainly. He’d heard of Hanamura’s...obsessions.

 

But, apparently, that didn’t stop him from being the ultimate chef.

 

Amami led him towards a small table set up by the window, decorated with a clean tablecloth, a small vase of flowers and an assortment of condiments in a small container.

 

“I’ll let you check out the menu. I’ve got orders to fill out but Toujou will be by soon, feel free to grab her attention.” He dismissed himself with a wave, before wandering off to do some work, though Naegi could only assume he’d just check his phone again.

 

The menu was...impressive, to say the least. These were hardly easy dishes. There were soups and salads, almost full main courses and deserts- Naegi wasn’t sure if he could choose. It was still early, so something small seemed more appropriate.

 

He’d opted for takoyaki, in the end.

 

“U-Uh...Toujou-san?”

 

Toujou, dressed up in her maid garb, approached the table with speed, brandishing her notebook and pen.

 

“Naegi-san, I’m glad you’ve taken the time to visit us today. What would you like?”

 

“Uh...takoyaki, please!” Naegi set the menu down with a smile; Toujou’s presence is enough to make anybody feel at ease.

 

“Would you like some tea with that?”

 

“Yes, please!”

 

Toujou sped off to the kitchen, surprisingly quickly for somebody in heels, leaving Naegi to sit alone by the window. He felt slightly redundant and a little guilty that he could be doing something to help and instead he was sat here waiting for some tea.

 

Maybe he’d bring some for Kirigiri a little later.

 

It took a little over five minutes for the food and tea to come- Naegi was certainly impressed by the speed at which things were run. Then again, with the way Hanamura cooked, it was good Toujou was quick on her feet.

 

“Thanks, Toujou!”

 

“You’re very welcome, Naegi-san.”

 

And with that, she sped away.

 

Naegi immediately took a mouthful of takoyaki and almost groaned on the spot- damn, it was so good! Kind of a shame the chef was the biggest pervert, but his skill was undeniable! He took a sip of tea to wash it down and sighed. This was great.

 

“Hello, Naegi.”

 

Naegi looked up to see the form of somebody he admittedly knew very little about.

 

“Hey, uh...” He’d recognised his face but aside from that...

 

“Mitarai. Mitarai Ryota. I’m the Ultimate Animator.” The large boy sat down opposite him, shifting the table slightly as Naegi finished his last takoyaki. “Good food?”

 

“The best.”

 

Mitarai chuckled. “That’s the Ultimate Chef for you.”

 

“I couldn’t imagine living on this kind of food- I’d eat way too much and--“ He stopped himself, shrinking back in case weight was something of a sore spot for Mitarai. Mitarai seemed to shrug it off with a small smile. “It’s fine. He...did say he had something planned, however, but he just won’t tell me what.”

 

“Are you a waiter here or...?”

 

“No, I oversee the others and make sure they’re...working.” He eyed Amami, who was, yet again, checking his phone. Naegi gave a meek chuckle. “Good thing Toujou’s as hard-working as she is.”

 

“You’re telling me- she keeps running off to help the juice stand as well since apparently Komaeda is incompetent.” He huffed. “I don’t know how she does it.”

 

“I almost feel a little bad...” Naegi set his empty cup down. “I’ve done almost nothing and she’s helping two stalls at once...”

 

“Don’t feel bad- she really enjoys working.” Mitarai told him, honestly. “She hasn’t taken a single break since she started working- says she prefers it that way. Keeps her occupied.”

 

“I guess...that’s good?”

 

“Gentlemen!”

 

Both boys were alerted to the sound of the chef himself, Hanamura Teruteru, who happened to be lugging around a rather large food trolley.

 

“Aren’t you meant to be cooking?” Mitarai tilted his head, scanning the classroom to see how many customers remained. Hanamura gave a devilish smile, “Oh, I’m all done for the moment- until we next batch of customers come, but for the time being I had a little idea and I’d like you two gentlemen to be a part of it!”

 

Naegi was almost afraid to ask.

 

“What...exactly would we be doing?” He asked, slowly, cautiously.

 

“Eating, of course. See, it’s a popular game that people eat certain foods...more unorthodox dishes, if you will.” Hanamura smirked and if Naegi wasn’t on edge now, he absolutely was now.

 

“It almost sounds like you’re going to make us eat something disgusting.” Mitarai commented flatly, causing Hanamura to shrug. “Aha, you got me. That’s the gist of it- and since you two aren’t doing anything important, why not serve as a bit of entertainment to the other guests!”

 

“I’d really rather not...” Naegi mumbled, but his protests fell on deaf ears as Hanamura set out two dishes in front of them, covered by a lid. “Enjoy, my friends!”

 

Naegi didn’t want to do this at all, but Mitarai bravely lifted the lid, his expression stony.

 

“It’s....ice cream?”

 

“Ah, ah, not just ice cream!!”

 

“You’re right, it’s ice-cream mixed with ramen.” Mitarai corrected himself with the most hollow voice Naegi had ever witnessed. He almost wanted to laugh if he wasn’t doomed to the same fate. He lifted his own lid and, surprise surprise, it was ice-cream and ramen.

 

“It’s even got sprinkles...is- is that pork? What flavour ice-cream is this even?”

 

“No offense, Hanamura, you’re an amazing chef, but this is the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life...” Mitarai murmured, and Naegi snorted. He had a point, nothing like this should exist.

 

“Well? Dig in?”

 

Mitarai sighed, picking up a fork and spiralling a few ice-cream covered noodles around it before bravely shoving it in his mouth. Naegi flinched, waiting for his reaction to follow.

 

Surprisingly, he remained unfazed.

 

“It’s not that bad. Like an acquired taste...”

 

“Y-Yeah...?” Naegi picked up his own fork and forced a bite into his mouth. He had to admit, it was better than he expected. The ice-cream was mint-flavoured and the ramen was virtually tasteless so it wasn’t like it clashed too much.

 

“Do I have to eat the whole thing...?”

 

“Well, I’d prefer it if you did.” Hanamura told him, solemnly. Naegi deflated slightly.

 

Well, no time to lament about it- if he hurried up he could down the whole dish and be done with it. Mitarai apparently had a similar train of thought and the two quickly did their best to slurp up the noodles.

 

Needless to say, it left Naegi with a bit of a stomach ache. How could a chef who can cook the best takoyaki cook an abomination like this? Ah, whatever, it was all over now...

 

“Now, for the next dish!”

 

“No.....” Naegi whined, trying to wash the taste from his mouth with the dregs of his tea.

 

“I think this one’s a bit more of a challenge! Ice-cream ramen is nothing compared to this!” He announced, grandly. Where was that gluttonous gymnast girl when you needed her?

 

Nonetheless, Naegi reluctantly lifted the lid to the dish to reveal- oh, oh...no...this wasn’t good.

 

The plate before him was decorated with three or four small dumplings, they looked delicious but Naegi only knew that was a ruse. What lay inside would betray how delicious the outside looked.

 

“What’s...in this?”

 

“Secret.” Was Hanamura’s one reply.

 

He...had to do this. Hanamura wasn’t going to let him go if he didn’t. He watched Mitarai experimentally taste one, only to grimace when Mitarai’s expression changed.

 

“That’s...interesting...” He practically wheezed.

 

Well...he was only stalling an inevitable doom- he might as well try one. He picked up one of the dumplings, it was slightly spongy, and placed it in his mouth. With a deep breath, he bit down.

 

The liquid that erupted from it was foul to say the least. Nauseatingly oily, with chunks of what Naegi could only was something edible. Was this chili oil? And, okay that was definitely ginger. There was something else that tasted like a mix between an anchovy and an olive but at this point, it might as well have been both.

 

He forced the dumpling down his throat and shuddered, feeling his stomach jolt with discomfort. He had to eat three more of these? Oh, god...

 

“C-Can I get some water...?” Naegi choked out.

 

“Me too...”

 

Hanamura sighed, crossing his arms, as if he was deep in thought. “I suppose I could allow it. Toujou!”

 

Mitarai sighed, having already eaten two of his dumplings and was now looking rather green around the gills. Feeling bad, Naegi forced another dumpling into his mouth to match up with Mitarai.

 

“I didn’t sign up for this...” Mitarai lamented, as Toujou brought them water with nothing but her deepest sympathies written across her face, though she hurried away before she could get dragged into it.

 

Both boys promptly chugged the water to wash the vile taste from their mouths, before sitting back with a bloated sigh. Two more left to go...Mitarai managed to choke down another dumpling.

 

“I...don’t think I can do any more...”

 

“So is that a forfeit?”

 

Naegi groaned, before picking up another dumpling and...ugh, placing it inside his mouth. He shuddered, knowing full well the assault his tastebuds would receive once he bit down. Well...he’d be fine when it was all over. The fact this would end was giving Naegi hope.

 

He almost gagged as he tried to swallow it, almost spitting it back up on his plate, but it managed to go down in the end. This was it, he couldn’t do any more...he had to forfeit...

 

“I...give up...these are just...eugh....” Naegi wheezed, desperate to get some more water to drown out the taste. Mitarai had just managed to finish his last dumpling, much to Hanamura’s delight.

 

“Well, I’m impressed, Mitarai! Naegi’s having to forfeit so that makes you the winner anyway! And now, for your forfeit, Naegi...” The devilish smirk from earlier had resurfaced as Hanamura produced another plate, placing it next to the dumplings from hell.

 

Naegi’s stomach was fit to purge itself at any moment, but he took a breath, held strong, and lifted the lid.

 

All it took was the sight of a whole squid, melted chocolate, grated chilli and pineapple to send Naegi running for the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> naegi spent twenty minutes sobbing in the bathroom


	5. Juice Stand

 

By the time Naegi’s upset stomach had calmed itself, he found himself outside a juice stand- didn’t Mitarai mention how Toujou was also working here...? There was a long desk set up outside the classroom door that acted as a counter, with students making juices in the classroom. He peered in to see who was working this stall...

 

“Naegi...?”

 

“Ah...Kirigiri!” Naegi waved somewhat awkwardly, noting the uniform Kirigiri was dressed in. She seemed to sigh, adjusting the length of her skirt slightly with not much to say. They eyed each other silently.

 

“Do...you want some juice?”

 

Naegi almost laughed on the spot- retail was not where Kirigiri belonged, clearly. Then again, some juice sounded nice after the culinary apocalypse he’d managed to crawl out of before.

 

“Sure! What do you have?”

 

He was promptly handed a piece of paper, listing all the available juices. Apple and orange...pineapple...blueberry and grape...they all sounded pretty good (but again, Naegi’s standards were lowered after the last classroom.)

 

“Uh...hey, pomegranate and grapefruit sounds nice. Can I get one of those?”

 

“Sure. Just give me a few minutes.” And with that, Kirigiri took his order to the back of the classroom where the juice was being made, leaving Naegi stood alone by the counter. Well, he was alone, until--

 

“Hey! Naegi, right?”

 

Naegi looked up to see, dressed in a similar uniform as Kirigiri, Komaeda, holding several trays and a few empty glasses. Komaeda- he was the kid who almost got shot in the escape room! He was working here today?

 

“Uh...yeah, Komaeda isn’t it?”

 

Komaeda smiled. “Sure is! Are you being served already?” He set the trays down onto the counter before, to Naegi’s surprise, hopping up to sit on it. Komaeda was...overwhelmingly tall, with a somewhat unhinged appearance to him. It was probably the hair. Either way, he seemed nice enough.

 

“Yeah, Kirigiri just served me. So the two of you are working here together?”

 

Komaeda pulled a face of uncertainty. “I...Well, I wasn’t meant to be working here originally- Owari was meant to be waitressing here, but she got too hungry and ran off somewhere, so I was dragged in to take her place.”

 

“Owari...is that the girl who eats a lot?”

 

“Yeah...I don’t really know where she went to be perfectly honest. I think she might be by the other food stands further down the hall.” Komaeda eyed the end of the corridor, checking if Owari was lingering around.

 

“Ah...it sucks you got dragged into this, then.” Naegi laughed, albeit nervously as he was at risk of doing just that. Komaeda shrugged. “All I was doing before was cleaning the hallway, so it’s not much different.”

 

“Isn’t...Toujou also working here?”

 

“A-Ah...yeah...she said I was acting ‘unprofessional’ and ended up taking over a load of my jobs. That’s the Ultimate Maid for you.” Though he appeared sheepish, he seemed rather impressed and somewhat relieved by Toujou’s insistence to help.

 

 

“Now I feel a little guilty...” Naegi mumbled, eyeing the array of empty glasses on the counter.

 

“Ahahah, don’t, don’t~!” Komaeda waved his hand with a merry laugh, “You’ve been going to the other stands, right? How were they?”

 

Naegi paused, recollecting the past two hours in his head. “Well...I went to the Ghost House first...that was a mistake...” He said, lowly, causing Komaeda to begin laughing again. “I’m curious to see it for myself! Apparently it’s really scary!”

 

“Uh...yeah...” Was Naegi’s only response. “Uh, then I went to the escape room with you and the others.”

 

“Oh yeah! That was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?” Somehow, Komaeda seemed entirely unperturbed by the fact he was almost shot during the events of the escape room- in fact, it was almost like he found it amusing!

 

“I...weren’t you scared?”

 

“Scared? Why would I be scared?” Did he just have no clue what was happening? Did he know what a gun was?

 

“You almost got shot!” Naegi could only cry in disbelief at Komaeda’s calm answers.

 

“I know- it was pretty exciting, right? I guess I got super lucky, huh!”

 

Was this kid even real? Naegi knew he, himself, was kind of an oddball by the other students standards, but Komaeda was on another level, clearly.

 

“Here, pomegranate and grap-- Komaeda, get off the table.”

 

Kirigiri’s return made Naegi jump slightly- the way her tone lowered made it feel like he was in trouble. The student actually in trouble, however, laughed, as he slipped off the table.

 

“This is what Toujou was talking about when she said ‘unprofessional’.” Kirigiri commented, pushing the trays and empty glasses back into Komaeda’s hands and shooing him back into the classroom.

 

“Do...you want any help?” Naegi offered, awkwardly, but Kirigiri shook her head firmly. “We’re fine here, even if we managed to get the two most incompetent students to help us....” She muttered, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “Good thing we have Toujou to make up for that.”

 

“Can I ask you something?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“What’s the deal with...him?” Naegi could only point towards the classroom, clearly indicating Komaeda, who seemed oblivious to the fact he was talking about him. Kirigiri seemed to understand without having to turn around and see who Naegi was talking about.

 

“I’m not quite sure. Unless I’m mistaken, he got into this school the exact same way you did.”

 

“A lucky draw?” Naegi considered himself incredibly unlucky, so getting the chance to attend Hope’s Peak was not only amazing, but seemed to explain why he’d had almost nothing but bad luck leading up to that moment.

 

“Yeah, so I suppose you both share the same title, but the thing is...he really does have luck on his side.”

 

Naegi’s eyes widened fractionally, as he remembered the events of the escape room. First, Komaeda had suddenly stepped out onto the tiles and was lucky to get the right one- then he’d stepped onto a random podium and found his place first time around as well as helping Kirigiri figure out the mystery behind it and lastly, he’d quite literally dodged a bullet when Ouma had shot him. If that wasn’t luck, he didn’t know what was.

 

“You really think he’s lucky?”

 

“It balances out. He claims to be unlucky when things go wrong, but those things always turn into something far, far better. He’s not lucky because the draw picked him like it did you- he’s just that lucky in general.”

 

“W-Wait, seriously? That’s insane! Luck isn’t even a talent!”

 

“You say that, yet somehow somebody like him exists...”

 

Naegi sighed, finally taking a sip of the juice Kirigiri had offered. It was delicious, and did well to revive his tastebuds from earlier. “So even if we both were deemed Ultimate Luck, he really is the Ultimate Lucky Student, isn’t he?”

 

“I’d say so. Judging from when Nanami had scolded him earlier, he’s often reckless and relies on his luck a lot of the time, despite claiming to have bad luck.”

 

“Ugh...he wouldn’t know what bad luck was if it shot him in the--“ Okay, inappropriate. To his surprise and internal delight, Kirigiri snorted, her smile widening slightly. “You could say that.”

 

“Does that make me the Ultimate Bad Luck, then?”

 

Kirigiri hummed softly. “I think your talent is much more meaningful than that.”

 

“You don’t have to say that, y’know...” Naegi chuckled, ruefully. “I’m not all that useful. I mean, look, everybody else is working hard on all their stalls and stuff and I’m just wandering around doing nothing...”

 

Kirigiri paused, before offering her answer. “I don’t think that’s true. You’ve been visiting all the stalls, haven’t you? Are you going to visit all of them?”

 

“Well...” Naegi scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner, “That was the plan.”

 

Kirigiri smiled. “Then what’s to say that visiting each stall isn’t your job?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Everybody here is just having a good time, it’s not always about working hard. Even if you feel like you’re doing nothing, you’re taking the time to visit every stall, even if you don’t necessarily like it.”

 

Naegi bit his lip, contemplating her words.

 

“What’s the point of running a festival if there’s nobody to visit the stalls?”

 

Naegi set his empty glass down onto the counter. “I guess you’re right. Thanks for the juice, by the way. It was really good! Much better than what I had to eat next door...” He mumbled, feeling his stomach jolt at the thought.

 

“I heard. Sorry you had to go through that.”

 

“Not gonna lie, the takoyaki were great. I was gonna bring you some later, actually...” Naegi admitted with a shy smile. Kirigiri looked momentarily surprised, but her expression fell into a small smile.

 

“That sounds nice.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> komaeda is a useless beanpole


	6. Food Stall Fun

Naegi had departed from the juice stand with minimal awkwardness, waving bye to Kirigiri and Komaeda. The last stretch of this corridor was food stands and Naegi was willing to try a bit of everything, so long as they didn’t pull anything funny on him like Hanamura.

 

He was attracted to the ruckus at the first stand and upon approaching the counter, immediately knew why.

 

“Ya didn’t cook ‘em long enough, squirt!”

 

“I cooked ‘em just fine, you bastard!”

 

This was a surreal scene if Naegi had ever seen one. Standing behind the counter, laden with portable cooking stoves, paper platers and plastic cutlery, were Oowada and Kuzuryuu, almost physically at each others necks.

 

“Look at ‘em- it’s pathetic! S’practically raw!”

 

“Just ‘cause I don’t like mine burnt to a goddamn crisp! And you don’t put nearly enough vegetables in yours either!”

 

“Vegetables are for the WEAK!!”

 

From what Naegi could deduce, the two rather overzealous characters were running a joint yakisoba stand and heavily criticising each others method of cooking. From what he could see, both plates of noodles looked fine, but in their eyes it must’ve looked entirely different.

 

If he could just slip away and come back at a better ti--

 

“Naegi! C’mere!”

 

Naegi sighed, and reluctantly approached the stall. “Hey, Oowada. How’s it...going?” He asked, knowing full well how it was going. Oowada was quite literally red in the face and though Kuzuryuu appeared far more composed, he too looked rather ticked off.

 

“Noodles. Go.”

 

“W-What about them?”

 

“Whaddya like about them? You like ‘em limp an’ stringy like this midget here, or d’ya like proper cooked noodles!”

 

“Dude, say midget any louder and that weird tennis guy is gonna come over and glare at us again...” Kuzuryuu muttered, darkly, watching another stall from the corner of his eye. Though Naegi hadn’t a clue what they were talking about, Oowada deemed this an acceptable reason to pipe down.

 

“But seriously, this kid can’t cook his noodles right, I’m tellin’ ya! But I’m a fair guy, y’know me, so I’m gonna cut him a little slack here! And by that, I mean I want you to judge both of our dishes and see which is better!”

 

This...this wasn’t a request. This was an order, and Naegi had been classmates with Oowada long enough to know an order was an order. He slumped a little in his spot, but nodded anyway.

 

“Okay...but not too much. I’m still recovering from Hanamura’s gross dumplings...” Naegi put a hand over his sensitive stomach and for the first time he’d ever seen, the yakuza actually looked sympathetic.

 

“Did he make you eat them? I had one last year and blew chunks- that shit is nasty.” His face twisted into a grimace at the very thought. “Dunno how somebody as good at cooking as him can make something so vile.”

 

“Maybe ya just got a weak stomach...” Oowada teased, throwing a batch of noodles onto the stove. Kuzuryuu scowled. “You wouldn’t be sayin’ that if you ate one. Trust me, it’s not fun. And that’s not the only crazy food he’s made us eat.”

 

Oh, of course, Kuzuryuu and Hanamura were in the same class, weren’t they? For a moment, Naegi felt sympathetic.

 

“See, this is why ya noodles are under-cooked, ‘cause ya keep runnin’ your mouth instead of cookin’!” Oowada scolded, pushing his sleeves up as an indication he was really working hard. Kuzuryuu clicked his tongue with a frown, but went back to cooking his own batch of noodles.

 

Naegi watched them, he had to admit, he didn’t expect these two to get along...if he could call this, ‘getting along’. As long as they weren’t killing each other...?

 

“Are you gonna put any vegetables in there at all?”

 

“Of course I am! Mind yer own fuckin’ business, shrimp!”

 

“Whaddya just call me?!”

 

“You wanna go right now?!”

 

Naegi raised his hands defensively, “Look, if you start fighting, then your noodles are gonna burn! And then you’ll both lose!”

 

The prospect of a double loss seemed to convince them fighting wasn’t an option at the moment, though their sour expression proved they were just going to save it for later. Oowada flipped a batch of noodles with quite a bit of skill.

 

Even though Oowada was still cooking, Kuzuryuu started piling the noodles onto a plate and the smell was enough to make Naegi feel hungry again.

 

“There ya go. Eat.”

 

Naegi took a pair of chopsticks and began slurping up the yakisoba. He could see why Oowada had a problem with Kuzuryuu under-cooking his noodles, but it wasn’t enough to taste bad. He didn’t mind slightly undercooked noodles and it tasted great. He shovelled a few vegetables in his mouth, appreciative of the taste. He only finished half of the plate, however, so he could eat a decent amount of Oowada’s dish.

 

It was good timing, too, as just as he put the plate down, Oowada shoved another one into his hands.

 

“Tell me my noodles are overcooked and I’ll tell Kiyotaka I saw you littering in the hallway.”

 

Oowada’s warning sent an odd kind of shiver down Naegi’s spine. Kuzuryuu scowled at the both of them, but knew full well what Ishimaru was capable of if he caught somebody breaking the rules.

 

Naegi quickly scarfed down a decent amount of noodles, feeling the different in texture and flavour between the two, before setting the plate back down.

 

“Not bad...” Naegi murmured.

 

“So? Who’s is better?”

 

Naegi stammered for a moment, not wanting to say no to either of them. “Well...you guys do know it’s down to personal taste right...?” Cue both boys rolling their eyes in an over-exaggerated manner.

 

“Okay, fine, whose did you like better then?”

 

“Uh...sorry, Oowada, but I think Kuzuryuu’s was better...” Naegi forced the words out of his mouth, doing his utmost not to look Oowada in the eye. “I think yours just needs more vegetables...? Or maybe different kinds of meat?”

 

To his surprise, Oowada didn’t look furious. He looked as if he was actually contemplating the criticism. “Y’know, different types of meat sounds like an alright idea! I’m still cookin’ the noodles how I like ‘em, but I think you might have a point there, Naegi!”

 

Naegi sighed in relief, before smiling. “Awesome. So...maybe I’ll come back later and see how it goes?”

 

“Abso-fucking-lutely! Go on, get outta here!” Oowada grinned with a flick of his spatula, sending specks of oil across the table. Kuzuryuu offered a silent wave of dismissal.

 

* * *

 

It was nice to see yet another familiar face at the stand across from Oowada and Kuzuryuu’s. Kuwata seemed to brighten up at Naegi’s approach.

 

“Yo, Naegi! How’s it goin’ dude?” He greeted with a cheeky grin. This stand appeared to be another joint stand, and judging from Kuwata’s side of the table, it was crepes and man, they looked amazing.

 

“Holy crap, Kuwata, these look great!” Naegi praised, looking over each pre-made plate, all littered with different kinds of fruits and sauces. Kuwata looked incredibly proud and Naegi couldn’t blame him.

 

“Right? They taste super good too, go on, have one!”

 

Naegi took one but was wary of how much he’d already had to eat. One mouthful in and he wanted to groan openly- who knew he was so good at making these?

 

“I’m gonna assume you like ‘em! Awesome! Hey- quick question, what was with the ruckus over by Oowada? Were they fighting over the noodles again?” He asked, peering over at Oowada’s stand, now significantly less noisy than earlier.

 

“Ah, yeah...they made me test two batches of noodles. They’re both pretty good.”

 

“I know, right? I already had a plate- I didn’t know Oowada could make such killer noodles!” They both shared a laugh.

 

“So, are you sharing this stall with somebody else?”

 

“Sure am!” Kuwata leant back into the classroom to holler, “Yo! Li’l dude, get over here!” Naegi could hear a distant ‘I told you not to call me that’ until the student in question arrived.

 

Oh, now he got what Kuzuryuu meant with the midget comment. He’d definitely seen this kid around school- he was kind of famous for his height. Or lack of height.

 

He was also famous for the dead-ass glare he gave people who stared too long.

 

“How’s it goin’?” Hoshi shoved his hands into his pockets, eyeing Naegi carefully. Naegi almost dropped his plate, but mumbled an affirmative around the mouthful of crepe. Come to think of it, he’d seen these guys hanging out around school before. Both being athletes, it made sense they’d get along.

 

“Yo! You made more crepes!”

 

A female voice almost caused Naegi to drop his plate for the second time. Kuwata huffed a response, “Yeah, they ain’t for you, hollow-legs!”

 

Turning around, Naegi now recognised this female as the Ultimate Gymnast and also the biggest glutton in the entire year. Owari stuck a finger into her ear, cleaning the wax out and then wiping it on her skirt.

 

“C’mon, Leon, I’m hungry! Gimme something!”

 

“Nope. You eat like a goddamn horse at the worst of times! Seriously, where does it all go!” Owari patted her voluptuous chest with a devilish grin. “Ya know where it all goes! C’mon! Ryoma?”

 

“Uh, no.” The tennis player responded, flatly, “You cleared out my last batch entirely and that’s not happening again.”

 

Owari slumped over. “Aww, that ain’t fair.” She whined, as Hoshi hopped down from the stool he was stood on to return to the classroom. “We’re buds, aren’t we?”

 

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean a thing! Shouldn’t you be working at the juice stand?”

 

“Ah- got Komaeda to fill in for me.” Owari waved a hand dismissively, which Naegi could translate as, she disappeared and Komaeda had no choice. Kuwata rolled his eyes. “Go figure...”

 

“Hey, li’l dude, are you gonna eat that?”

 

“Stop harassing people for food, Akane!” Kuwata hissed, but Owari was too delighted when Naegi gave up his plate to her. She scarfed the rest down quicker than Naegi had ever seen before, before smiling with satisfaction.

 

“I like you- you’re cool!” She praised, patting Naegi on the head and chucking the paper plate into the trash.

 

“Only because he gave you food. Seriously, Naegi, the quickest way to this girls heart is through her stomach and only her stomach.”

 

“Quickest way anywhere in my book!” Owari beamed, hands on hips, looking incredibly pleased. The beam turned into a look of desperate lust as Hoshi returned, setting a tray down onto the table. Naegi could see now, he’d been making custard creams and- aww, they were like little cat faces! A little odd for the tennis player, Naegi thought, but they looked amazing.

 

“Want one?”

 

He looked up to meet Hoshi’s questioning gaze. He pushed the tray a little towards Naegi. Owari nodded.

 

“Not you.”

 

“Aww....”

 

Naegi, feeling bad for Owari, took one anyway, biting into it and smiling. “S’really good! You make these by hand?”

 

“Sure did.”

 

Naegi swallowed down the rest of the treat watching Owari practically drool over the tray, much to Hoshi’s distaste.

 

“Seriously, Akane, get back to work.” He scolded, and Owari pouted. “Nu-uh! I’m hungry! Gotta eat something!” She protested. Kuwata raised an eyebrow. “What, you get banned from everywhere else? Jeez, Akane, lay off for a bit, will ya?”

 

“You don’t get it! If I get hungry, I’ll totally die!”

 

“Uh, yeah, that’s what starvation is, but it doesn’t require you to eat every five minutes. You’re gonna get fat.” Kuwata responded, pointedly. Owari frowned. “Hey, I do more than enough exercise to burn it all off! S’why I’m hungry all the time!”

 

“Yeah, you say that, but I haven’t seen much exercisin’. Go do some work and come back later.”

 

“I don’t wanna go back to the juice stand, it’s borin’! Can I work with you guys?” Owari pleaded, but Kuwata and Hoshi held the exact same expression. “Uh, no. You think we’re stupid?”

 

“No, I think you’re totally mean! You know how dull workin’ at that stand is? Nothing to do!” Owari crossed her arms with a scowl.

 

“Do some tricks or something, then.” Kuwata shrugged. “Do something flashy- bring us business!” Owari seemed to perk up at the idea, scanning the surroundings for something to accompany her ‘trick’.

 

Then her gaze fell on Naegi.

 

Naegi couldn’t shake his head fast enough.

 

“Wait- wait, Naegi, c’mere! And you two! C’mon, you’ve cooked loads already! It’ll just take a minute, okay?”

 

Kuwata and Hoshi glanced at each other, before reluctantly getting out from behind the table. This was better than Owari eating everything, apparently. Owari grinned, getting onto her knees and looking at Hoshi expectantly.

 

“Shoulders. Hop on!”

 

“Uh...”

 

Kuwata gave Hoshi a nudge, clearly trying to contain his own laughter. Hoshi huffed, before eventually giving in and climbing onto Owari’s back and settling his legs over each shoulder. Naegi, too, had to cover his mouth with a hand. The sight of the tiny tennis player sitting on the gymnasts shoulder was actually pretty cute!

 

“You’re up next, Leon!”

 

Kuwata slumped over slightly, and Naegi got the distinct impression this wasn’t the first time Owari had done this. Kuwata reluctantly lifted his arms and, to Naegi’s shock, Owari lifted him up with one arm, before redirecting her gaze to Naegi.

 

Oh...boy...

 

“C’mon Naegi! Arms up!”

 

Naegi awkwardly raised his arms and let Owari hoist him up from the ground, clinging onto her shoulder for a shred of support.

 

“D-Does she do this often?” Naegi craned his head to look up at Hoshi who looked relatively calm, despite clinging to Owari’s head for dear life.

 

“More than I’d like to admit...” Was his only reply.

 

Owari did a few laps up and down the corridor with the three boys, all clinging onto her. Naegi felt a surge in his stomach, his body telling him this wasn’t a good idea but Owari didn’t seem like a force to be reckoned with. Well...not until--

 

“OWARI!!”

 

Owari flinched, almost dropping the three boys- they all yelped, doing their best to scramble off safely and return to safety. Naegi groaned- great, now they were going to be scolded and he didn’t need that right now...

 

Though it wasn’t a teacher who came to scold them.

 

And in fact, it wasn’t even him who was being scolded.

 

“IT’S THE CULTURAL FESTIVAL AND YOU THREE ARE MESSING AROUND! You’ve all got WORK TO DO!!”

 

Ah...this guy, who Naegi could recognise as Nidai, the Ultimate Team Manager. He was way scarier in person, but the three athletes remained unfazed by his yelling.

 

“I was bored! They asked me to do tricks!” Owari said, pointing an accusatory finger at Kuwata and Hoshi, who’s expressions turned stony. “Only cause you won’t go back to the juice stand! And you keep eating our snacks!”

 

“They’re meant to be eaten!!”

 

Nidai and Naegi watched the three bicker amongst one another. Eventually, Nidai sighed and Naegi braced himself for the raising of voices.

 

“HEY!! Since you’re not all working well, I’ll have no choice but to temporarily revoke privileges!!” Nidai, though cheerful and friendly, clearly took things seriously. The athletes looked momentarily confused, until the confusion turned to dread.

 

“N-No, wait, you don’t mean--!” Owari stammered. Naegi was surprised to find the other two just as shocked as her.

 

“I do! Completely revoked!” He said, simply.

 

“A-Aw, c’mon, Nidai! Dude! We were just havin’ fun, okay!” Kuwata pleaded. “Just don’t take “that” away from us!!”

 

“Yeah, look, we’ll get back to work, okay?” Hoshi murmured, clearly upset by whatever “that” was.

 

“There’s no being lazy at a cultural festival!! It’s not fair if everybody else is working hard and you lot are messing about!”

 

Naegi wouldn’t say a lot of the students were ‘working hard’ but he respected Nidai’s fairness.

 

“And since you’re skipping training today to do this- you’ve gotta work extra hard to keep up!”

 

The three sighed, leaving Naegi to wonder just what “that” was.

 

Nidai watched their solemn faces, before nodding to himself. “Alright, alright, if you work hard for the rest of the day, then consider “that” privilege un-revoked!” His face broke out into a smile. “And I’ll be seeing you all later on to check on you! You too, Naegi!” He ruffled Naegi’s hair, before striding off.

 

The three athletes seemed to sigh in relief as Nidai left, prompting Naegi to ask, “What...does he mean by “that”?” To his surprise, the three looked surprise. “Oh, man, you don’t know?” Kuwata grinned. “It’s awesome! It’s better than sex!” His description left Naegi with raised eyebrows.

 

“It feels so good! Ahah~ Makes me feel good just thinkin’ about it!”

 

Oh, god, this wasn’t something weird was it...?

 

“It’s...massage, basically...” Hoshi answered, quietly, “I guess as a team manager, Nidai gives all the athletes massage once in a while to loosen the knots or whatever.” He turned away, looking almost embarrassed. “It’s actually pretty good. You’d have to try it for yourself to know.”

 

“Yeah! I think he’s doing a stall for it further down that corridor! You have got to try it out!” Owari clamped her hands onto Naegi’s shoulders. “You’ve got to! You haven’t lived if you haven’t tried “that”!”

 

“A-Alright, alright...I guess I’ll see how it is later!”

 

“Trust me, you’ll love it!” Kuwata gave him a thumbs up.

 

“Also, cover your mouth.” Hoshi pulled the tray away from Owari’s grasp as she made a mad dash to get back to work. Naegi tilted his head. “H-Huh...? Why?”

 

The two male athletes grinned. “You’re gonna be makin’ some pretty weird noises.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'know i might make a separate thing where all the athletes are friends that sounds like a good idea


End file.
